spiderwort

spiderwort, common name for some members of the Commelinaceae, a family of tropical and subtropical succulent herbs found especially in Africa and the Americas. Species of the spiderworts (genus Tradescantia ) and the dayflowers (genus Commelina ) are indigenous to the United States, particularly in the Southeast. They are sometimes cultivated as ornamentals. The family is classified in the division Magnoliophyta, class Liliopsida, order Commelinales.